Year 2
Term 1
Welcome back to school and the year 2 Owls Class!
We can't wait to meet you all! Just to let you know that PE days will MONDAY (Dance) and THURSDAY (Ball Skills) so please remember to come in PE kit and trainers on these days. Library books can be swapped on FRIDAYS.
Don't forget to tie long hair back and no earrings and jewellery. Newsletters and learning information will be shared shortly.
Week beginning 12th October
Spelling
Next week we will be teaching u spelt o, o spelt a, or spelt a/al: glove, London, wash, watch, ball and tall. We will also be learning our harder to read and spell words: love, want, people, house and mouse.
English
We have been doing some short burst writing, learning to use conjunctions to extend our sentences and add detail. We also looked at some different ways to begin our sentences instead of always starting them with 'They'. We created some interesting sentences using different words like: Some, Normally, Luckily, Most and Unfortunately.
Maths
We have been consolidating and making sure that we are really confident with our number bonds to 10. Then looking at how related facts can help us to remember our number bonds to 100. We have been chanting and practising quick recall. We also looked at adding and subtracting 10 from 2-digit number.
Reading
This week we have been looking at a non-fiction text. We used our scanning and retrieval skills to locate information and answer questions.
Art
Over the last few weeks we have been looking at lines, shapes and patterns and how artists use these to create different art work. We also looked at Piet Mondrian and how he used lines and the primary colours to create one of his most famous pieces. We then had a go at recreating a similar version.
Week beginning 5th October
Spelling
Next week we will be teaching igh spelt i: child, climb. We will also be having a bigger focus on our harder to read and spell words this week: door, floor, because, most, with and some
English
This week we have been writing our Cold Writes. We had to write an information text about an animal of our own choice. We also started to learn our text map which is all about Owls. We will continue to practise this next week.
Maths
We have been recapping our number bonds to 10 and trying to make sure we are really speedy at remembering them. We also looked at how they help us to learn our number bonds to 20. We looked at patterns that help us remember.
Topic
We were learning about the main reasons that 'The Great Fire of London spread so quickly. We came up with a few different reasons: The hot dry Summer, the strong winds, the houses all being close together and being made out of wood and that they hadn't developed fire engines yet.
Week beginning 28th September
Spelling
Next week we will be teaching ee spelt ey, s spelt c and l spelt il: key, valley, face, place, city, pencil and fossil. We will also be recapping spelling our next 5 harder to read and spell words: there, out, like, children and do.
English
It was National Poetry day on Thursday so the Owls created a class poem based on Autumn. They had some lovely ideas to include and we created some great images of Autumn. We also wrote our Hot writes, a recount about Samuel Pepys escaping from the Great Fire of London.
Maths
This week we have been ordering 2 digit numbers. We decided that it was really important to look at the tens number when we were trying to put them in order from smallest to largest. We have also been practising our 2 x table. Chanting in class and trying to remember the key number facts.
Computing
We have been looking at how we use technology around us and how useful it is. We also discussed what kinds of things we can do to keep ourselves safe when we are using different types of technology.
Topic
This week we were being history detectives and looking at different objects that were used in 1666. We looked at different pictures and had to decide:
- What it was?
- How it was used?
The children were great at explaining how they thought the objects were used.
PE
Some excellent throwing and catching in mini games this week. The Owls are really beginning to understand the importance of finding space and talking to each other to work as a team.
Science
We have now studied the difference between how different animal groups are adapted to survive. We finished this week with the difference between reptiles (dry scales) and amphibians (live in water and on land and have webbed feet). This week the children created their own habitats for animals thinking about how to ensure they had: WATER, AIR, FOOD and SHELTER.
Reading
We have been practising scanning a text for key words in reading this week. Can you practise this at home when reading? Using your finger helps keep track too.
Week beginning 21st September
Spelling
Next week we will be teaching n spelt kn and gn and r spelt wr: knee, know, sign, design, wrist and write. We will also be recapping spelling our next 5 harder to read and spell words: what, were, are, so, have.
English
We have been doing some short burst writing as a character from our story map this week. We have also been looking at adjectives and verbs. Explaining what they both are and identifying them in our writing. Ask us to tell you some interesting verbs or adjectives!
Maths
We have been looking at number lines this week. Identifying missing numbers and thinking of strategies to help us identify the missing numbers. We decided it was very important to look at what number was at the start of the number line.
Science
Great learning all about fish this week. Owls thought about different ways to sort them from whether they survive in fresh or salt water to how many fins they have and whether they are herbivores, carnivores or omnivores.
Art
The last couple of week we have been looking at portraits so this week we learnt about a particular artist who liked to create portraits in a very unusual way. Pablo Picasso created many portraits and we looked at how he liked to use shape and colour to produce his portraits in a very different style. We then had a go at producing some of our own pictures in the same style.
Languages Day
We had lots of fun in Owls learning different languages. Mrs Eltham taught us some Italian, Miss Dearlove introduced us to Spanish and Miss Sharman taught us a Nick Cope song using Makaton-Can the children remember some of the signs (our favourites were 'try' and 'best')? We also enjoyed our French cafe to start the day of with lots of Owls having a go at speaking in French!
Music
Great fun starting using the glockenspiels this week-we improvised with the notes C, D and E. We also appreciated the song 'You can call me Al' by Paul Simon-the children loved spotting different instruments in the song.
Forest School
We also enjoyed a visit into Forest School this week. The children had to see how many creatures they could find and then create a shelter for their chosen creature.
Week beginning 14th September
Spelling
Next week we will be teaching j spelt g, ge, dge: page, giant, large, charge, edge and fridge. We will also be recapping spelling our next 5 harder to read and spell words: was, they, her, you and all.
English
We have been learning our new story map this week and the children have been brilliant! We started learning it as a whole class, and then we worked in groups to perform the first part to each other. We used our oracy skills to speak clearly and project our voices. See the gallery for some pictures.
Maths
We have continued our unit on place value. We have been partitioning numbers to 100. Looking at how we can use different pictorial representations to represent these numbers. We did a journaling activity and drew base 10, part, part whole models and used stem sentences to describe 2-digit numbers.
We have also looked at GREATER than and LESS than symbols and using them in equations like:
5+7 >3
Have a look here for a recap at home: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/z3cm8hv
Art
We have started a unit on drawing and sketching. Last week we looked at how to draw a self-portrait accurately. Paying particular attention to where our eyes, nose and ears would go. This week we created a portrait of King Charles II. We definitely have some talented artists in Owls!
PE
We have begun a unit on dance. The children have been listening to a piece of music and creating a sequence of moves to describe what happened during the Great Fire of London. We are going to continue to practise and add to this dance and then perform our final pieces to each other.
Our other lesson is all about ball skills and the Owls are becoming experts at dribbling the ball with their hands for CONTROL and keeping POSSESSION.
Music
We have started learning all about pulse and rhythm this term and begun our journey of musical appreciation for the year. This week we listened to 'Free Nelson Mandela' by The Specials and thought about the beat and instruments and musical style. Check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgcTvoWjZJU . We loved all the brass instruments!
Science
Another great week examining animals. Birds this week. The children considered how this group of animals are adapted to ensure they get all the things they need for survival: AIR, WATER, FOOD, SHELTER. They did some great careful drawings of different British birds..please do get out in gardens and natural spaces and see which birds you can spot. https://www.rspb.org.uk/helping-nature/what-you-can-do/activities/go-birdwatching
Week beginning 7th September
It has been lovely to see all of the new Owls enjoying being in Year 2. We have had a busy week of learning!
Spelling
Next week we will be recapping alternative spellings for i, o and u. We will also be recapping spelling our next 5 harder to read and spell words: as, his, he, she and we.
Topic
We started our new topic 'The Great Fire of London'. The children were really interested in what happened so we came up with some questions that we would like to find the answers to. We also had a discussion about how different London was in 1666.
Maths
We have started our unit on Place Value this week. The Owls were amazing at recognising tens and ones in 2-digit numbers. We have also been using base 10 to practically make 2-digit numbers and then record these in our books.
English
We have started our new unit and the children all wrote a cold write about a little boy escaping from 'The Great Fire of London'. They had to think about what he might have seen and heard. We are going to look at our new model text next week.
Science
An inquisitive and curious start to year 2 science lessons on Friday! We are exploring what different animal groups need to survive and we started with MAMMALS this week. Owls explored CARNIVORES, HERBIVORES AND OMNIVORES..Next week we move on to birds. Check out the gallery for some pictures.
Reading
We've been focussing on the VIPER of prediction this week with the help of Peter Predict! One of our books "The owl who is afraid of the dark' by Jill Tomlinson explores how a baby owl is scared to be a nocturnal bird.
Oracy (speaking and listening)
As we continue to prioritise oracy across the school, Owls have been having lots of discussions this week. They have discussed 'the odd one out' in science and whether they would rather have a giraffe neck or elephant trunk! Each week we are awarding someone in Owls an 'oracy' sticker in recognition of great communication.
Construction
Owls had a great session using our K-Nex construction sets trying to make towers! The creative minds of the children were incredible...the towers took on the form of a fun fair and a moving ride too-great design skills Owls!